Metanavigation:

International comparison of wage levels

The IMK regularly evaluates the relevant Eurostat statistics and examines wage costs across industries comparing the results with those of the employers' institute, IW. So far the analysis has shown that the level of German wage costs is merely average compared to that of other West European countries. An additional objective of the project is to explain wage divergencies across industries, which are particularly pronounced in Germany. The researchers use a number of explanatory variables ranging from the age and qualification of the employees to the share of men in the respective industry. The existence of minimum wages and the development of domestic demand also affect an industry's wage dispersion. Inter alia a panel econometric approach is applied.